MOD-RFID125
User Manual
All boards produced by Olimex are ROHS compliant
Rev.A, February 2008
Copyright(c) 2008, OLIMEX Ltd, All rights reserved
INTRODUCTION:
MOD-RFID125
is an RFID station, able to read Manchester-encoded 64-bit
EM4102 tags with 64 periods of carrier frequency per data bit. All the
complexity of RFID tag detection, verification and decoding are handled by
MOD-RFID125. After it strips the header and the checksums user is given
the 40-bit ID of the transponder tag.
MOD-RFID125 supports three distinctive modes of operation, easily
switched by a single button press. It can emulate USB HID keyboard and
input the read TAG ID directly to any Windows application, including the
venerable Notepad. Or it can emulate USB CDC serial port for easy access
from custom user applications using standard code for COM port access.
The third option allows access from any standard 5V UART, allowing easy
integration with existing microcontroller applications.
FEATURES:
-Supports Manchester-encoded 64-bit EM4102 RFID tags with 64 periods of carrier
frequency per data bit;
-Base RFID frequency 125kHz;
-USB port connection to PC;
-UART 9600,8N1 connection to user microcontroller boards;
-Three modes of operation, easily changed by pressing the button;
-USB HID keyboard emulation mode;
-USB CDC serial port emulation mode;
-UART connection mode;
-Simple command-line interface in USB CDC and UART modes for configuration and data
acquisition;
-Two LEDs indicating device status and tag presence;
-Support for continuous and periodic RF scanning to better suit user power requirements;
-Ships with default mode USB HID and default configuration: continuous read, scan always,
one report per second, LEDs activated;
ELECTROSTATIC WARNING:
The MOD-RFID125 board is shipped in protective anti-static packaging.
The board must not be subject to high electrostatic potentials. General
practice for working with static sensitive devices should be applied when
working with this board.
REQUIREMENTS:
Cables:
1.8 meter USB A-B cable.
Software:
Software needed for USB HID keyboard mode:
-Notepad or other text editor.
Software needed for USB CDC and UART modes:
-HyperTerminal or other terminal program.
SUPPORTED RFID TAGS:
MOD-RFID125 supports RFID
characteristics:
-Based on EM4102 chip;
-125kHZ carrier frequency;
-64-bit ROM, continuously transmitted;
-64 periods of carrier frequency per data bit;
-Manchester encoding;
transponder
tags
with
the
following
LEDS:
In normal mode the GREEN LED is on whenever the RF antenna circuit is
active and scanning for RFID tags. The RED LED switches on whenever a
valid RF TAG ID is being scanned and decoded successfully.
The LEDs can be switched off to save power consumption. See the
“Command Line Interface” section for more information.
In boot loader mode the LEDs have other meaning. See the “Firmware
Upgrade” section for more information.
PC DRIVER INSTALLATION:
Drivers for the USB HID mode are integrated in Windows XP/Vista.
The driver for USB CDC mode is available from our website. Windows
installation steps are the following:
1.Download and unzip the file “MOD-RFID125-drivers.zip” in a temporary directory.
2.Plug the programmer in the USB port.
3.Point the Device Wizard to the temporary directory.
4.Windows will complain that drivers are not signed. Click “Continue”.
5.Click finish.
Screen shots of the steps are shown below:
Linux distributions normally include drivers both for USB HID and USB
CDC classes. Depending on which driver is loaded in the kernel, user
should look either for
/dev/ttyACMn
or
/dev/ttyUSBn
where "n" is a number, assigned by the kernel to the plugged device.
USB HID MODE:
When device is connected via USB to a host PC it will represent itself as
USB HID keyboard. When an RFID transponder is detected in the vicinity,
the module will type the HEX-representation of the transponder ID.
To use the device in this mode:
1.Open Notepad.
2.Plug in the device in the USB port of the PC.
3.Put an RFID tag in front of the device. The TAG ID will be entered
in the currently opened text file.
There is no need for OS driver because all major operating systems include
USB HID drivers.
NOTE:
This mode does not allow configuration of device parameters. MOD-
RFID125 is shipped with default configuration for continuous read and one
second repeat. If this must be changed then device must be switched to
USB CDC mode and configured using the serial command line interface.
USB CDC MODE:
In this mode the device represents itself as USB CDC virtual serial port. It
provides a simple shell-like command line interface for configuring and
interacting with the module. The device echoes back the typed characters
and waits for Carriage Return (Enter) before processing the line input. See
“Command Line Interface” for more information on the supported
commands.
Any terminal software can be used to open the COM port, assigned by the
OS, and type in commands.
